Chapter 38: Time to Build a House
When Li Yi returned home, he saw the courtyard gate wide open, with quite a few people moving about inside. Ox-drawn and horse-drawn carts were coming and going, some hauling soil, others carrying water.
It turned out his father had already hired people to help make mud bricks. Judging by the yard full of bricks drying in the sun, construction had clearly been underway for quite some time.
After tying up the big red mule, Li Yi unhitched the cart, exchanged a few greetings with the crowd, and then went back inside.
He then fetched a jar of sugar from the house, followed by a thermos of hot water and a stack of large bowls.
“Uncles and elders, please take a break and have some sugar water!”
He then began preparing the sugar water on the stone millstone under the eaves.
Although it was already 1980, supplies were still very scarce; white sugar sold for 1.2 yuan per jin at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Most importantly, it was rationed—each family received only a limited number of sugar coupons per year—so to the commune members, it was truly a precious commodity.
Hearing there was sugar water to drink, the group of cooperative members who had been helping all stopped what they were doing and came over to get bowls!
Li Yi wasn’t stingy—he filled each bowl with two heaping spoonfuls of white sugar and poured in scalding hot water. The sweet aroma hit them all at once!
Taking advantage of this break, the men gathered together to chat!
“Brother Shan Kui, time sure flies. Before we know it, Little Yi will be building a house and getting married!”
“You’re telling me! Just a few years ago, I saw that kid running around in diapers, and now he’s all grown up!”
“Hahaha, Yiwa’s been a rascal since he was a kid. He’s caused no end of trouble in my little orchard!”
“That’s nothing. A couple of years ago, my place…”
Everyone chimed in with stories about Li Yi’s embarrassing moments, making him squirm with embarrassment.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say a word in defense—after all, none of them were accusing him of anything he hadn’t done.
Leaving his childhood aside, ever since he started school, he’d been the village ringleader, leading a gang of young lads to wreak havoc at one household today and another tomorrow.
You could say that there wasn’t a single household in the village with “special goods” that he hadn’t raided at least once.
In recent years, things had only gotten worse—what started as harmless pranks had turned into outright petty theft. With all this being brought up, he felt too embarrassed to even stay at home.
Thinking he needed to discuss something with Tang Xue, Li Yi immediately told Li Shankui, “Dad, I’m heading over to the educated youth camp. You guys go ahead and get on with your work!”
With that, Li Yi grabbed the things he’d bought for Tang Xue in the county seat and rode his bicycle straight to the educated youth commune!
It was the off-season for farming, and the brigade’s work assignments were relatively light—just gathering pig fodder and cleaning the irrigation ditches—so everyone finished work early.
By the time Li Yi arrived, most of the educated youth had already returned and were gathered in small groups under the shade of the trees, chatting and joking around.
It was already June 1980, and most of the educated youth with connections or abilities had returned to the city.
Some had jobs arranged by their families, while others had simply been admitted to university. Those who remained were either without connections or without the necessary skills.
This group was the most hopeless of all the educated youth; they could only bide their time and wait for an opportunity.
Therefore, in Li Yi’s eyes, these people looked particularly dejected!
And these people looked down on Li Yi as well. Watching him ride his bicycle past them at full speed, someone immediately remarked with a sour tone, “He’s just a good-for-nothing—what’s there to be so smug about!”
Someone immediately chimed in, “Exactly. Just a hick. He’s acting all high and mighty just because he’s got a bicycle. What a joke!”
“Guys, why bother with him? What do you think about what Brother Xu mentioned? Will that mushroom business actually work? Can those mushrooms really make money?”
“I think it’ll work out. Didn’t Xu Hong say he’d already found a way to sell them? We picked so many mushrooms this afternoon—we should be able to make at least a few dozen yuan!”
“A few dozen yuan? Really? That much?”
“Haha, do you guys know how much that good-for-nothing pays those village kids for a day’s work? You’ll be shocked—the highest they get is five yuan!”
“Good heavens! Five yuan a day? That’d be 150 yuan a month…”
……
Li Yi ignored them and drove straight to the female educated youth dormitory.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Zhang Xinyao washing clothes outside.
Upon seeing Li Yi, Zhang Xinyao immediately called out to the house, “Xiao Xue, your man is here to see you!”
Hearing Zhang Xinyao refer to him directly as Tang Xue’s man, Li Yi couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. This woman was easy to get along with—she was a person of principle.
Inside, Tang Xue was cleaning up. Like other educated youth, she and the others worked just as hard as the ordinary villagers, heading out to work early every morning and rarely taking a break at noon. They only had time to tidy up after returning home in the evening.
Hearing Zhang Xinyao’s words, Tang Xue knew it was Li Yi who had arrived and immediately stepped out of the house.
Sure enough, she saw Li Yi standing not far away, leaning on his bicycle—he must have been waiting for her.
Tang Xue had now come to terms with her fate. Having lost her virtue, she dared not return home even though she had received her transfer order back to the city.
Since Li Yi was willing to take responsibility, and he had truly turned his life around during this time, she felt she should give him a chance—and give herself a chance as well.
“Wait a moment, I’ll be right there!”
After saying that, Tang Xue went back inside, changed into clean clothes, and came out.
When she reached Li Yi, Tang Xue looked at him and said, “How did you find the time to come over? Didn’t you go to the back mountain to pick up those kids?”
Tang Xue knew that Li Yi had been taking the village children out to gather wild produce lately. With Li Na and the other “internal spies” around, Li Yi had practically no secrets from her—unless even Li Na herself was unaware of them.
“No need to pick them up. Dongzi, Shitou, and the others are leading them—it shouldn’t be a problem!”
Li Yi then took a small mesh bag off the handlebars, handed it to Tang Xue, and said, “Here, this is for you!”
“Sandals?”
Through the mesh, Tang Xue saw that the bag actually contained a pair of plastic sandals—light yellow in color, with some metallic embellishments that made them look very pretty.
“Yeah, I saw them at the supply and marketing cooperative today. I thought they’d look great on you, so I bought them!”
Tang Xue hesitated for a moment, but took them anyway.
“It’s not easy for you to earn money—don’t be so wasteful in the future!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Buying something for my own wife—how could that be considered a waste?”
Hearing Li Yi call her “wife” over and over, Tang Xue’s face instantly flushed crimson. She whispered, “Keep your voice down—we’re not even married yet!”
“It’s only a matter of time!”
Then Li Yi added, “Oh, right—I came over today to discuss something with you. No, actually, I should say to ask for your opinion!”
“What… what is it?”
Seeing how serious Li Yi sounded, Tang Xue asked nervously.
“My family is planning to build a new house, so I wanted to ask you what kind of house you’d like and if you have any specific requirements for the layout,” Li Yi said.
“Huh? Why are we suddenly building a house?” Tang Xue asked in surprise.
“Well, since I’m planning to marry you, I was worried that using the old house as your wedding home might be a bit of a letdown, so we’re building a new one!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Tang Xue replied, “It’s not a big deal. Isn’t that just how things are these days?”
“I don’t care what other people do, but since I have the means, I can’t let you settle for less!” Li Yi said earnestly.
Tang Xue’s heart skipped a beat, and she whispered, “Actually, you really don’t have to go to such lengths!”
“I said I’d throw you a grand wedding and marry you in style. I, Li Yi, always keep my word!”
“Okay! Thank you!”
“Go ahead and tell me—what are your requirements for the house? I need to go back and make some plans,” Li Yi said.
“Could you set up a place for me to take a shower? You know how inconvenient it is for us women to bathe!”
“No problem, I’ll design a bathroom for you!”
“Also, could you make the kitchen a little bigger?”
“Hmm, bigger is better!”
“That’s about it!”
“Alright, I’ll go back and design it exactly as you requested. This is our first home together, so I have to make sure you’re satisfied!”
Li Yi chatted with Tang Xue for a little while longer, and only when it was nearly dark did he reluctantly leave the educated youth commune!